Watch Insight's episode AI: Friend or Foe – and whether the hype or hysteria is justified – on
Stream free On Demand
A.I. Friend Or Foe?
episode • Insight • Current Affairs • 52m
episode • Insight • Current Affairs • 52m
Small business owner Marina Pullin has recently made the tough decision to replace staff with an artificial intelligence (AI) program.
“We had three marketing roles scheduled as we came out of COVID and we started to expand,” said the managing director of Jungal, a network of freelancing professionals.
One role, the marketing lead, had been staffed, while two junior roles were yet to be filled.
“We decided to put ChatGPT in as well, just to see how it would go," she told Insight.
Marina says the results were “exceptional”.
“In the last week, on a six-month comparison, we had over a 2,000 per cent increase in engagement.
“It's instant and it's low cost, and highly effective.”
Marina Pullin has replaced staff with ChatGPT. She says the move has reaped instant benefits. Source: Supplied
Thanks to AI, Marina never filled the junior roles. She even let the other new staffer go.
'Not sophisticated enough'
Erin Arnett was recently let go from her job as a copywriter (someone who writes the words in advertisements).
While her employer didn’t mention AI as part of that decision, Erin has her suspicions.
“In the weeks leading up to my dismissal, rather than me writing the blogs from scratch, I would receive just ChatGPT generated blogs,” Erin told Insight.
Copywriter Erin Arnett says she sees the benefit of AI writing tools but believes they aren't yet good enough to emulate a human. Source: Supplied
“It's not quite sophisticated enough to truly emulate that human touch ... especially if it's something quite nuanced," she said.
AI taking jobs that humans 'should probably never have done'
Chief scientist at UNSW’s AI Institute, Professor Toby Walsh, says he's both worried and excited by AI.
"Unfortunately, there are going to be some jobs that go. But then there are going to be new jobs."
With the burgeoning use of AI, some industries will be significantly impacted more than others. Source: SBS
“The question is not whether people's jobs are going to be replaced. But are the people who use AI going to replace the people who don't use AI?”
He’s optimistic that these potential changes are for the best.
“The jobs that are being done by AI today are the robotic jobs that humans should probably never have done in the first place."
A report by investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, which would amount to a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe.
But it may also create new jobs, a productivity boom and could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7 per cent, the report suggests.
Using AI to ease the workload and take more naps
Charlie Chan is an Australian musician and composer who's been recording solo piano works for 25 years.
They developed their own musical AI assistant, ChAI (Charlie Chan AI) to emulate their musical style so they could ease their workload and enable themselves to eat and take short naps during concerts.
“The idea was, I'll teach somebody how to do something very similar to me and get its ideas,” Charlie told Insight.
Musician and composer Charlie Chan is keen for AI technology to make their job easier. Source: Supplied
“I'd be delighted for parts of my job to be taken,” Charlie said.
ChAI made its performance debut last month alongside Charlie, as part of their 24-hour non-stop concert.
“When I needed breaks, ChAI took over and played the piano for me as if it was me.”
'Not about labour saving'
Andrew Bate co-founded SwarmFarm Robotics in Emerald, Queensland. The company is a fast-growing operation that builds AI-integrated robots for sustainable agriculture.
The robots do various jobs, such as identifying weeds and spot-applying herbicide where needed, which reduces the need for wide-reaching pesticide.
"People think about robots and autonomy is about labour saving, but that's not where it's at," Andrew told Insight.
"It's not about getting a bigger machine and getting rid of people."
Andrew Bate, co-founder of SwarmFarm Robotics in Emerald, Queensland, says AI isn't about labour-saving but rather creating new opportunities for people. Source: Supplied / Bindi Nalder
"We believe technology can help do that," he said.
For Marina, using AI means she can cut staffing costs. She says the the decision to cut human roles weighed heavily on her, but she felt it was the right one.
“We struggled with it for a long time, until we had to make the call,” she said.
“We're driven in business on short-termism.
"It's all about economics."
